Irish sprinter Thomas Barr believes Michael Johnson’s Grand Slam Track League won’t drastically impact the Diamond League, despite its lucrative prize money.
Top Irish sprinter, Thomas Barr believes Michael Johnson’s Grand Slam Track League will have no major impact on the Diamond League roaster.
The track league will make its debut in Kingston, Jamaica from April 4 to 6, 2025 while the first leg of the Diamond League Meeting will be on April 26, 2025, in Xiamen, China.
Many track and field experts and fans had expressed worry about having top runners competing in the Diamond League following the emergence of the Grand Slam Track League but Barr is confident that it will be business as usual.
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The three-time world champion insists that Elaine Thompson-Herah and Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce still have plenty more to offer the world.
The Grand Slam Track requires that athletes run two races in three days at each meeting and the winner in every event will walk away with $100,000.
The Diamond League promises a prize purse of $10,000 to $20,000 for the winners depending on the leg while the final will pay out $30,000-$50,000 to the winners.
Barr admitted that the prize purse matters when it comes to athletics and most athletes decided to sign up for the track league due to the money being offered.
He observed that athletes have very few avenues where they can make enough money hence the motivation to sign up for any opportunity that comes and offers them a major financial boost.
“It’s good to see innovations in the sport, things did need a little bit of a refresh. But I don’t see it changing things drastically as regards the Diamond League or Continental Tour,” Barr said as quoted by Irish Independent.
“When it comes to sport, in particular athletics, money talks. There’s such a limited window, such limited places, to make money within the sport that that is what will entice people. It’s the big budget that’s attracting people now. It’ll be interesting to see will the actual event holds those people.”
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Letsile Tebogo reflected on his career’s turning point, winning his first global gold in Nairobi.
He further noted that many athletes opting for the Grand Slam Track League will grant a series of Irish athletes to compete in the Diamond League Meetings.
“I don’t think it’ll take a huge amount from the Diamond League. I’m interested to see whether athletes will commit to the number of races or back out and ask whether it’s in their best interest to race again two days later,” he added.
Speaking about his retirement, Barr admitted that he has yet to fully process such thoughts but when that time comes, he wants to be fully ready for the transition.
